Coffee

I had the privilege this week of traveling across some of the most beautiful countryside in Rwanda, and learning about how coffee is grown, cultivated, cleaned and produced here. It was fascinating to see how the coffee we drink at Starbucks begins here in Rwanda as a cherry on a tree. From there, it grows, it is picked, washed, washed again and again, soaked, dried, picked open...and the process continues....Finally it reaches Kigali from the farms, and is packaged and shipped in containers to the U.S. and other places around the world. I have a friend who manages Rwanda Trading Company, and was nice enough to take me into the field and show me the ins and outs of the coffee business. The neatest thing to see was how much the community is involved at each washing station and on the farms. The community co-op raises the money to buy the land, and the materials to build the station. It takes the whole community to support a project like that. But they will reap the benefits together as well. RTC is new on the coffee scene in Rwanda, and they have already changed the way business is done, beginning with cutting out the middle men, and increasing the earnings of the farmers. I was blessed to meet these farmers who were so hard working and humble. To see the caring relationship that these company managers had with the farmers was a blessing. It's a new thing for them....to have people high up on the ladder come to the field and hear their needs. I'm proud of my friend, and all those working for RTC. The coffee is about ready for harvest....and soon, it will be at your local Starbucks!



A community building their own coffee washing station

Women farmers picking out the bad "cherries."

Talking to the farmers and listening to their needs

Washing the "cherries."

Laying the coffee out to dry